Brau Brothers calls SheepHead an "American bitter", a combination of styles melding the deep and round maltiness of a British bitter with fruity and zesty American hops. With a big 77 IBU dose of American hops and an ABV over 7%, it could easily be considered in the IPA/Double IPA family, or the somewhat catch-all American Strong Ale category. Featuring the classic duo of Centennial and Cascade, the aroma of this light amber brew offers a...

Devil's Advocate is Church Street's very competent take on the Belgian Strong Golden Ale, a style benchmarked by the famous Flemish beer, Duvel. In fact, Church Street uses Duvel's yeast strain to produce Devil's Advocate, and to good effect we might add. Bright and hazy golden in the glass topped by a robust head of foam, this ale offers up plenty of aromatic fireworks. Along with some stone fruit notes and a touch of cotton candy, look for...

MooJoos is the flagship beer for Brau Brothers, accounting for over 40% of their annual production! Named after a childhood reference to chocolate milk, MooJoos is a fusion of two classic beer styles: Milk Stout and Oatmeal Stout. Toasted and Flaked oats are implemented to provide backbone and an oily slick mouthfeel, while milk sugar (lactose) provides a creamy, sweet essence that balances with layered roasted and toasted malts. Brau Brothers...

This "helles" or "pale" lager is one of the best representations of the style that we've come across outside of Germany. It's a deceptively tricky style to brew since even small flaws have nowhere to hide. Heavenly Helles certainly looks the part of an authentic German helles, pouring a bright golden-straw color with brilliant clarity. Our bottles had a touch of yeast sediment at the bottom, so be sure to pour gently for maximum clarity. On...

Pouring a bright copper hue with an exuberant head of lasting foam, this dry-hopped West Coast style IPA offers up plenty of aromatic fireworks. We got big, vibrant citrus fruit notes akin to tangerine, with some supporting floral tones. Take a sip and... Pow! 80 big IBUs hit upfront and stay with you through the extended finish, lingering on the palate long after the sip is over and drying this hop bomb out nicely. Pale malts offer just...

We knew we were in for a bit of a rarer take on a wheat beer from the start of the pour, as our glasses filled with a richer amber hue than we typically get with most beers in the broad wheat beer family. It's a bit reminiscent of a dunkel weizen, although it does not smell or taste like one. Unfiltered and hazy with a robust cap of tight-bubbled, long-lasting foam, this ale looks very inviting. In the aroma department, look for notes of...

On the pour, this is one deeply-colored IPA, presenting an unfiltered amber-brown topped by sticky foam that laces as it recedes very slowly. We picked up plenty of inviting fruity and floral notes in the aroma including tropical and stone fruits, a hint of berry, light herbal spice and a touch of citrus. WooHa built their IPA with a hefty malt bill, creating a brew with a robust backbone of toasty and caramel notes and a luscious, well-bodied...

We’re pretty darn thrilled with how this latest rendition of the Lambickx line turned out. It was originally brewed in 2013, then aged in 600-liter French oak barrels before being bottled in 2015. Our sampled batch was limited to 5,579 bottles, and these Lambickx releases see a very modest release in the U.S. overall: just over 100 cases in 2016, scattered in wee handfuls across about a dozen states. (The importer is expecting similar amounts...

While flying under a lot of folks’ radar, Mystic has been producing some amazing stuff up at their spot just outside of Boston. Some examples: Spectral Evidence, an imperial stout using Massachusetts malted wheat and native yeast; Entropy, a 14.5% ABV “Boston Cognac” that goes through four fermentations with four different yeast strains; and Amais, one of the rare recent examples of a dark stock ale aged in American oak. And Mystic Brewery...